We're All Born Naked... And The Rest Is Drag! (ALTERNATIVE CURVES)

Greetings, fellow fatshion lovers! I come to you today from the comfort of my bed, surrounded by candy wrappers and books about fashion and feminism. It’s a cruel world, ain’t it?

This is the final month on the Alternative Curves blog hop calendar, and at present it is fairly undecided as to whether we will be continuing on with the hop. Life gets life-y, and then hops don’t get hoppy, and sometimes it’s just better to take a little break and reassess. In the meantime, the hashtag and account over on Instagram will always continue to be a gorgeous community of fierce and supportive babes, so please do join in! <3

The theme this month is Drag Queen, and well, I just ADORE the art of drag. My favourite Queen of all time is Divine, and I often think I should devote my life to being a Bio-Queen. But I also have a fuckton of other things i’d like to accomplish, so instead I just try to inject some Drag Queen Realness into my everyday life! (y)


This look was inspired by Manila Luzon when she first entered the workroom in season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I really like Manila, but I wouldn’t say she is one of my ultimate favourites in the entire history of the show. HOWEVER - up until that point, I had appreciated the styles worn by the Queens, but that was the first look that made me legit MOIST. And the looks represented on the show have continued to escalate in unique insanity from that point onwards (in my humble opinion).

I actually wanted to do a really detailed cosplay of this outfit, but I kind of ran out of time before I left Australia. So this is just an “inspired by” or “homage to” kinda thing. If you want to see some OFF THE CHAIN Drag cosplay, check out my girl; Lacey Noel. She totally OWNS.





Anyways, I need to watch a few more makeup tutorials cos I still feel like a total n00b when i'm trying to beat my mug real good. Send me your favs, please!

OUTFIT DETAILS

Dress: City Chic -Currently available similar ones here and here

Faux fur: vintage - Similar here

Tights: Can't even remember!! Similar at We Love Colours

Heels: Demonia

Earrings: vintage (were my Nan's) - Similar here

Gloves: a plain white pair under black lace - Similar here

Headband: DIY mannequin hand glued onto a headband with a cig holder!

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CREATIVE FEATURE: Miss Lacey Noel

Instagram is an incredible place (oh hush, it's a place) – it's definitely my favourite of all the social media platforms. Being such a strong visual creature, it's not uncommon for me to wake up and have a look at my IG feed first thing because the people I tend to follow are incredibly inspiring and talented individuals who get my creative juices flowing. Combine a good sleep with a little shot of IG in the morning, and I am roaring to face the day and get amongst it all!

Last year, I stumbled across Miss Lacey Noel - an incredible young woman with oodles of talent and creativity (especially for her tender age), and she very quickly became one of my favourite Instagrammers and cosplayers. Plus, her obsession with Drag Queens is something I can TOTALLY get down on; her “Project Faux Drag” is one of the most exciting things i've discovered in recent times! She also has a wonderfully talented photographer for a mum, and together they make an unstoppable artistic duo who may make you a teeny bit envious, but more probably you'll just fall in love with their gloriously colourful work and heartwarming relationship!

I had so many questions I personally wanted to ask Lacey, I thought other people surely would be interested in knowing more about her as well...

Lacey and Mathu - the creative producer on RuPaul's Drag Race and Mama Ru's hair and makeup artist. He's actually a God - follow him on Instagram for eyeball orgasms.

Tell us a little about yourself. I know you're only 17 (!!) and you live in Hollywood, and your life seems full of such wonderful experiences and opportunities. Where were you born?
Hello, there! I’m Lacey Noel and I was born in New Jersey on the Christmas Eve of 1996. I am a cosplay artist, illustrator, and bone marrow transplant survivor. I now reside in Los Angeles, California where I’ve been able to grow as an artist.

Can you give us list all of the things that you do. You obviously model and do makeup... what else?
I’ve done hair and makeup on some of my mom’s clients and I know a bit about photography from my mom. I love to write. I’ve done stand-up comedy at the Laugh Factory. I’ve acted in some short films and a play, and I’d love to do some more acting. I’ve learned to play violin and guitar. I really love drawing. I love drawing portraits of people that I admire, and I’m determined to improve on my artwork. I'm taking a class in graphic design. Also, I’m learning how to sew and soon we'll be learning about costume design in school!

Left: Lacey's sketch of Bianca Del Rio || Right: Bianca herself, serving clown realness!

You must have incredibly supportive parents who encourage you in your passions. Your mum is a photographer, and she takes a lot of the photos that we see of you. Is that right?
Yes, my mom is extremely supportive! She's been photographing me since I was very little, and she's even taught me mostly what I know about hair, makeup and life. She's such an extraordinary woman. So strong, talented and inspirational! She's my best friend. We do everything together!

Do you both come up with the concepts?
We work as a team. For the cosplay projects, my mom looks for the outfits and wigs, and I learn the makeup and study how these queens pose. For the photoshoot where I'm myself, I do my hair and makeup and we just kind of come up with something together based on the outfits that I have.

Do you do your own hair, makeup and styling for the shoots?
Makeup, yes. Hair, when it's only my blue hair, I usually style it, and my mom dyes it. But when it's a wig, usually my mom styles it or I get to borrow a wig from one of the queens!

Left: Adore Delano || Right: Lacey Noel

What appeals to you about drag queens, and when did you first discover what incredible artists they are?
I guess my first drag queen discovery was getting To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar (Kobi: MINE TOO!) in my stocking on Christmas morning. Since then, I've become so fascinated about them! I love the art of turning yourself into the opposite gender, and how convincing you can look! Also, I love how creative and inspiring they are. When I started going to drag shows and watching RuPaul's Drag Race, I have not only become more confident with who I am, but I don't look in a mirror without makeup on and call myself ugly anymore! And that's truly a breakthrough because I used to get horrendously picked on in school, and I used to hate myself. It feels so wonderful to not feel like that anymore!

One of the things that I love most about drag queens is the courage and ability to have complete control over who you want to be and whatever you want to do, even if that thing seems so outrageous and out of the box. Although it is literally covering up/manipulating your body, it's all with the purpose of exposing the person you really feel like you are. Do you relate to that?
Well, it's art. It's all art, and with art, you get the freedom to express yourself through whichever medium to decide to pick. I can relate to that because through dressing up, I can really express myself.

Top: Lacey Noel || Bottom: Sharon Needles (one of my ultimate favs!)

So many of your photos on instagram are actually you with some of the most beloved queens of Ru Paul's Drag Race. How does this happen?!
I just keep up with what's going on in the drag scene, and I go to a lot of drag shows!

Of the ladies from the show, who have been some of the nicest/funniest/warmest?
I love so many of these queens, and so many of them have been so sweet and kind to me. But there's one queen who has really been supportive of me and my mom as well as Project Faux Drag, and that is Courtney Act. She is just so nice, and she has done so much for me. And also, she's my drag mother!

Left: Courtney Act live on RPDR (who you may remember from Australian Idol S1) || Right: Lacey Noel

You also cosplay regularly as queens from the show. Do they often get to see your photos? What are their reactions?
They do! And they seem to like them, too! I've even been posted on some of their Instagrams, Twitters and Facebooks as well!

I also saw that Tammy Brown recently dressed you up as herself!! I am GREEN WITH ENVY!! How did that come about?
'That's Tammie with an I E!' ;D (Kobi: D'OH, that's embarassing!) Well, Tammie really loved the drawing I did of her, and in a conversation we had, she said that she would love for me to draw a photo that not everyone has seen before. With my mom being a photographer, we set up a date for her to come over for a photoshoot. Then the idea of doing a cosplay project with her came up! It was super fun, and it was absolutely amazing working with her!

Lacey and Tammie with an I E!

It seems you've met some really incredible people in your life, like Gwen Stefani when she pulled you up on stage at a No Doubt concert. Obviously they are all amazing experiences, but which have been the biggest standouts for you?
I have so many incredible moments in my life, and I keep experiencing more! Moving to LA was a huge change in my life, and here I've gotten the honor of doing such amazing things. I'm so thankful that I am able to say that!

The outfits you wear on shoots are always so extravagantly amazing. You seem to be a big fan of a very colourful, hyper-mod style. How do you dress in everyday life? What kinds of things do you wear when you go to school?
I go to school like that all the time! But sometimes when I get tired, I'll wear a cute dress and do a nice little hairdo.

Lacey's style - so on point

What/who are your biggest style inspirations?
Gwen Stefani, of course, but there's also Edie Sedgwick, Twiggy, Patti Boyd, David Bowie, Goldie Hawn, Audrey Hepburn, Tracy Turnblad... The movie Hairspray changed my life and the way that I dress! Of course some of the queens really inspire my style as well! Bianca Del Rio is so fascinating and so neat looking! The way she dolls herself up is so unique and inspiring. I love how she wears things that are inspired by the '60's, and what I really love about that is that she KNOWS a lot about '60's fashion. She's such a style icon!

Speaking of school, how do the people you go to school with respond to what you do and how successful you've so been so far? Do they know?
Hm... Well, in my other schools, I used to get picked on really badly, but now that I'm in high school, I do have more of the freedom to express myself through the way I dress and what I do. I'll get stared at by people who don't understand, but oh well. With my success, I wouldn't call it success just yet. I'm getting more recognition at the moment, and a lot of people wonder who I am. Maybe I'll find my calling through all of this, maybe I won't. But either way, I am an artist and I need to create. And I am currently, deeply inspired by the world of drag. I feel at home in the drag community.

Lacey as Laganja Estranja

What are your plans for the future, once you finish school? Are you going to college?
Actually, I don't think I want to go to college. There's so much talk about how everyone HAS to go back to school after graduating, but I don't see the point in doing so. If I want to go to college, I would probably wait and relax for a year and then go. But then again, I'm not interested in paying back debt for the rest of my life. I'm an artist and I don't feel that going to an art school would help me very much. I need to continue with my work and keep creating, and I feel that school would only distract me from what I love doing.

If you could do absolutely anything with your life (which i'm sure you can, and will), what would it be?
Be happy, create art, have lots of fun, and live life to the absolute fullest! I would love to make a living off of what I do, as well.

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Amen! I couldn't have said it better!! What a gem of a gal, Lacey Noel. If you enjoyed this interview, please share it around. She's such a lovely and talented lass who deserves all kinds of amazing things (including being a guest on RuPaul's Drag Race, IMO). 

I had so much trouble choosing which photos to nab, because she has SO MANY AMAZING ONES! But you should take a look at Lacey's Tumblr, and you can also find her on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and all the other ones (full lists available on other pages).

- Kobi xx

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MY DIY PINK FLAMINGOS COSTUME (PLUS 10 REASONS WHY I'M OBSESSED WITH DIVINE/GLENN MILSTEAD)

If we're Instagram friends, you may already know that last Halloween I dressed as Divine/Babs Johnson from John Waters' trashtastic masterpiece 'Pink Flamingos'. It was my biggest (pun intended) costume undertaking yet, and Sam and I got some epically fun photos I wanted to share. Since i'm not a total narcissist, I decided to intersperse them with this list of reasons why I am OBSESSED with Divine (and her male counterpart, Glenn Milstead).

THE COSTUME
The costume took about 2 months to (slowly) put together. I basically accumulated my own reference images and analysed every aspect of the infamous red outfit, and then set to work collecting the necessary items from around the world (mostly; eBay). I made the dress, heavily modified a wig (I'll post a detailed 'how to' eventually), and am SUPER fortunate to have a good friend who is a special effects artist (and my SPFX mentor). Without his bald cap application and (INSANE) paint job, this costume would have been at least 1000% less effective, and I can't thank him enough for his contribution.

I also padded my hips, butt and belly. To do this, I watched a lot of youtube videos on drag queen padding, but in the end I decided the easiest and most effective way was to rip/cut up an old pillow and use the inside stuffing under 2 pairs of flesh coloured stockings.

So, without further ado;

10 REASONS WHY DIVINE IS MY SPIRIT ANIMAL

1. Her forehead is shaved with the sole intention of creating a larger canvas for eyeshadow. What's not to love about that?

2. Glenn Milstead never wanted to be a woman; he was playing a character. (Sidenote: this is a trait shared by one of my favourite ever queen's from RuPaul's Drag Race, Bianca Del Rio, who always refers to himself as a 'he' even when he's in drag.) As somebody with a love of acting and performing, I really get off on this notion of creating a character and adhering to it so much so that it becomes an alter ego. In fact, all of my favourite queens do this (Jinx Monsoon, Sharon Needles, Latrice Royale, Milk...) In Pink Flamingos, Divine's feminity is undeniable... the character's conviction and integrity; unquestionable. What a character, what a performance!

“Blood does more than turn me on… more than the sight of it, I love the taste of it. The taste of hot, freshly killed blood…"

3. Glenn was an advocate for self-expression and living personal truths. When he began dipping his toes into the Waters (hehe) of drag, he and John were going to drag balls where he was faced with the prejudices of thin and traditionally beautiful queens who wanted to look like “real women”. This was an imitation of the heterosexual world that, they felt, had in many ways oppressed them was. So why would he attempt to imitate that? Shouldn't he just do his own thing? He was fat and obnoxious, so why not have fun with it?!

4. For me, the character of Divine is still an ultimate icon of body positivity and personal confidence, exemplified by her in-your-face sexuality and extreme figure-hugging outfits (amongst other things). In fact, Glenn's entire careeer was essentially a rebellion against queer marginalisation, and to me, he was the original Lady Gaga.

WHO WANTS TO DIE FOR ART?

5. Doing drag in this era would have been BRAVE. For context: there was very little of a gay scene, because homosexuality was still illegal. “It was kinda more fun then" says John Waters – whose frank and subversive views on homosexual culture never cease to amuse and baffle me.

6. Glenn died on the exact day I was born; 7 March 1988. I like to convince myself that I am his reincarnation, but in reality March 7 in the USA would've been March 8 in Ausralia. I could've just been soul-less for a day, right?

7. The character of Divine is the basis for Urusla, from The Little Mermaid.

8. People who love Divine (and, I must add, John Waters) are united by a strong bond. A bond that screams “I am a juvenile delinquent” (despite our age) with an anarchist curl of the lip. This love (obsession, to some... *shifty eyes*) is entrance fee to a club that believes in “cinematic terrorism”, shock value with a purpose, and supports the Dreamlanders' intentions of rebelling against “suburban small-mindedness”.

"Kill everyone now! Condone first degree murder! Advocate cannibalism! … Filth are my politics! Filth is my life!"

9. I often like to sit and ponder, if Glen had lived, would the show be “Divine's Drag Race” instead? How about co-hosting, with Mama Ru?!

10. After his success in John Waters' films, Glenn continued to carve out a magnificent and steadfast career that involved theatre, musicals, comedy shows and DISCO stardom. These shows, no matter the context, always strived to push society's boundaries of what was artistically acceptable. For example, one performance involved Divine rolling onto stage in a shopping cart full of dead mackerel, which she threw at the audience while screaming obscenities. Make of that what you will.

............

If you made it to the end of this article, we are already best friends. I think you'll agree with me when I say: the world deserves bad taste. The world deserves Divine. So, thank you Glenn Milstead. You are the filthiest person alive, even in death.

If you haven't had enough of a Divine fix, I can highly recommend these documentaries:

I Am Divine & Divine Trash


Are you a fellow Divine and/or John Waters devote? Have you cosplayed as any of these characters before? Link me please!!

- Kobi xx 

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